AGL pulls out of coal seam gas across Australia, leaving farmers ‘ecstatic’
Santos’s plan for a CSG field in NSW’s Pilliga forest has been plagued by protests. In the wake of AGL’s decision on Thursday to pull out of coal seam gas in Australia, activists and farmers are calling on Santos to follow suit in NSW. Photograph: Ursula Da Silva/AAP
Michael Slezak @MikeySlezak
Wednesday 3 February 2016 19.41 EST Last modified on Wednesday 3 February 2016 22.04 EST
AGL is pulling out of coal seam gas in Australia, ceasing its exploration and winding down or selling its operational gas fields.
“Exiting our gas assets in NSW has been a difficult decision,” Vesey said. “AGL has invested significantly in these projects and communities over the past seven years.
“We are talking about potential investment of a billion dollars, so we had to make sure there were returns for shareholders. That has increasingly become uncertain in recent weeks,” Vesey told analysts.
Crude oil prices have slid about 70% in the past 18 months, and last month slipped to a 13-year low below $US27 a barrel, with gas prices following in its wake.
Farmers and residents who have been fighting coal seam gas have told Guardian Australia they are “ecstatic” with the decision. Lock the Gate Alliance – a collection of farmers, conservationists and residents who are concerned about unsafe gas mining – say it’s a well-earned victory for the thousands of people who have protested against CSG around the country.
In Gloucester near the Hunter Valley in New South Wales .. http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/new-south-wales , AGL had planned a 300-well development the company said could supply 15% of NSW’s gas needs, which would no longer go ahead.
“We are thrilled. It’s a fantastic decision,” said Steve Phillips, Lock the Gate coordinator in the Hunter. He says the protests would have had an impact on the decision. “I think the fact they had no social license to go ahead would have been a factor for them.”
Pierre Power is a father of three, and a resident in Narellan Vale in NSW, next to AGL’s Camden gas field, which AGL said it would phase out by 2023. Power said he lives within about 500m of one well, which had a major leak in 2014. Another 11 were located within a kilometre of his house, he said.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said of AGL’s announcement.
When asked whether the 2023 phase-out was fast enough, he said: “Well it’s better than eight or nine years, but obviously I’d like them gone. Especially because I’ve got young kids growing up in the area.”
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
